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positive fact. Among the first of our vernal migrants 

 come the Crow Blackbirds in large flocks which dis- 

 perse themselves over the country, frequenting, princi- 

 pally, as previously stated, meadow lands and humid 

 grounds in quest chiefly of an insect diet, that is only 

 occasionally diversified by a grain of corn, wheat or 

 oats, and such seeds as may be found in seeking the 

 hidden insect. 



THEY HUNT BEETLES AND GRUBS. 



In the wake of the plowman as he turns the crumb- 

 ling earth, the argus eyed Blackbirds follow closely 

 ever on the alert to seize the wriggling worm, the 

 agile beetle, and the numerous larvae thrown out as 

 each furrow is turned. Certainly at this season our 

 sable acquaintances are engaged only in that which 

 will prove of utility to the cultivator when his crops 

 are j^Towing. We repeatedly heard of how the Black- 

 birds tear up and devour the young and growing corn. 

 This, unquestionably, is sometimes the case but I am 

 confident that the destruction thus done is much ex- 

 aggerated. I am aware that on more than one occa- 

 sion I have seen the tender blades of corn lying on the 

 ground where there were actively at work Crow Black- 

 birds, a number of which were shot, and on post mor- 

 tem dissection their stomachs revealed almost entirely 

 insects. Some ten years ago I was visiting a friend 

 who had thirty odd acres of corn (maize) planted. 

 Quite a number of "blackies" as he styled them, were 

 plying themselves with great activity about the grow- 

 ing cereal. We shot thirty-one of these birds feeding 

 in the cornfield. Of this number nineteen showed only 

 cut-worms in their stomachs. The number of cut- 



